Jane Salihu
For many children across six local government areas of Kogi State, returning to school this term came with an excitement beyond the usual first-day anticipation: new school bags, shoes, books and other learning materials they could proudly call their own.
The joy was evident as pupils and students received the items provided under the back-to-school empowerment initiative of the Wife of the Governor, Her Excellency Hajiya Sefinat Usman Ododo.
Some children immediately displayed their new school bags and learning materials, while others tried on their shoes, turning the distribution exercise into moments of excitement across the schools visited.
Implemented from September 28 to October 2 through the Ohunene Empowerment Initiative (OEI), founded by the First Lady, the intervention reached 27 schools in Adavi, Bassa, Dekina, Kabba, Koton Karfe and Ogori/Magongo Local Government Areas.
More than 3,750 school essentials, including bags, books, calculators, mathematical sets, pencil cases, lunch bags, shoes and water bottles, were distributed to pupils and students.
The beneficiaries included children in Nursery classes, Primary 2 to 4 and Junior Secondary School 1 to 3, with pupils and students in other classes also benefiting in some of the schools visited.
Representing the First Lady throughout the exercise, the Coordinator of the Ohunene Empowerment Initiative, Mrs Mary Agamalafiya, led the distribution of the materials to beneficiaries across the six local government areas.
The outreach covered six schools in Kabba, five in Adavi, five in Dekina, four in Bassa, four in Ogori/Magongo and three in Koton Karfe, cutting across primary and secondary schools.
Beyond the distribution of materials, the exercise offered the initiative an opportunity to interact with teachers and school communities and observe the immediate impact of the intervention on the children.
For families struggling to provide basic school necessities, the support represents more than the value of the individual items. A school bag, pair of shoes or set of books can help a child return to class with greater confidence and participate more fully in school activities.
The initiative therefore places emphasis on an often-overlooked part of education support: ensuring that children have some of the basic materials needed to learn effectively once they are inside the classroom.
Among the schools reached were St. Augustine’s College Kabba, St. Monica’s College Kabba, LEA Oke-Offin Primary School Bunu, K/B LGEA School Edumo-Bunu, UBE Secondary School Edumo-Bunu and Comprehensive High School Oke-Offin Bunu.
Other beneficiary schools included LGEA Standard Nursery/Primary School Ikara-Woro Adavi, LGEA Standard College Iresuha-Inoziomi, LGEA Catholic School Ikara-Woro, UBE Secondary School Iresuha Adavi and LGEA Primary School Iruvomi Karaworo.
In Ogori/Magongo, the outreach covered St. Peter Primary School, LGEA RCM School, Government Science Secondary School and UBE/JSS CMS Magongo, while schools in Dekina included LGEA Central Primary School, Anglican Primary School, Islamia Primary School, Government Secondary School and LGEA Model Science Secondary School.
In Bassa, beneficiaries were drawn from LGEA Central Primary School Oguma, Bassa Model Secondary School Oguma, Bassa Model Nursery and Primary School Oguma and LGEA Islamia Primary School Oguma.
The Koton Karfe beneficiaries came from Police Children School, Government Science Secondary School and Community Girls Secondary School.
Through the Ohunene Empowerment Initiative, Hajiya Sefinat Usman Ododo has continued to support interventions focused on vulnerable members of society, particularly programmes aimed at improving the welfare, education and development of children and young people.
The latest six-LGA outreach was designed to give children a better start to the academic session while reinforcing the message that every child deserves the opportunity to learn, dream and build a better future.
For the pupils who walked away with their new bags, shoes and books, however, the impact was much more immediate: they had one more reason to look forward to going back to school.
